Expanding Vocabulary
'How do you spell it again?' she asked.
'Oh,' they chanted together, 'just the way it sounds.'
-- Against a Dark Background by Iain M. Banks
What are they talking about in the quote above? A particular word I shall reveal at the end of this post.
In an effort to improve my vocabulary, I am writing down words and their definitions. Words that I encounter in books, magazines, online, on tv, etc.
However, that doesn't guarantee the word goes into the old noggin. It requires multiple exposures to the word in different contexts. One thing that helps this is to look up the word in several dictionaries. The other part that poses a problem is usage; word choice, as Lostgal puts it. Once you know the word, you have to be able to pull it out of your proverbial hat whenever you speak or write.
This requires a different part of the brain to comprehension. You have to make a conscious effort to not use your old staple. It helps to test yourself in both spelling and definition of your new words.
I would like to learn more about how we learn. Particularly languages. Techniques used for foreign languages can be equally applied to your own.
How do you accrete (yeah, that's one of my new words in use) new words?
Word being discussed in the quote: Onomatopoeia
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If you're interested in how and what parts of the brain work when we learn, you can borrow my Human Mind book if you like. The first stages involve a lot of work by the "higher order" brain functions, the frontal lobe and and the area associated with basic skills in whatever we're trying to learn whether it's a physical or mental skill. When we see someone doing something and try to copy them or speak them, our brain actually acts a lot like it's doing the movements itself even though we're not physically doing it. That's why we learn a lot quicker if we can see someone doing something than just from being told how to do it, even more if we try to copy it ourselves. As we get better and better, less and less effort is required as the neural pathways for that activity get stronger until the activity is '2nd-nature' and if it's not too complex the 'instinctive', older parts of the brain down by the brain stem that have been around for millions of years and common to other creatures are able to take over directing the other parts without upper involvement and we can do it without thought. That any help?!